Check Me Out
by Toraberushi Meriemu
Summary: Ward *knows* that girl is stalking him, because she's always at the library on his shifts, but she's really pretty, and if she really understands all those computer science books she checks out all the time, she's smarter than him, and tHAT'S WHY HE CAN'T JUST TALK TO HER STOP PUSHING ME TO DO IT FITZ. A.k.a the librarian AU


Forgive the cheesy title. I thought of it and I couldn't resist.

* * *

Grant ducked into the back room of the Circulation desk as soon as he saw _her_ enter the library. She wasn't alone today; Fitz's lab partner/girlfriend/whatever-the-fuck-they-were-to-each-other was there with her. He stood there, next to the stacks of unprocessed holds, attempting to look like he wasn't doing anything other than what his job requires him to be doing.

"Hiding again Ward?" Coulson's amused voice comes up from behind him, and he jumps slightly.

"Jesus, make some noise when you walk, will you! Because do you know what? That's what normal people do." Grant's always had excellent senses, but no matter what he does, he can never notice when his supervisor comes up behind him. Coulson just smiles pacifyingly at him.

"You just need to be a lot more observant. And don't think I didn't notice that deflection by the way. If you really want to hide, make sure you go somewhere where she can't see you." Grant is left spluttering his excuses as Coulson heads to the front to talk to the two girls who had just entered. He turns around to see May looking at him from her desk with an unimpressed look on her face.

"What." He isn't hiding. He really isn't. Coulson's just blowing things out of proportion again. May just shakes her head and turns back to the desktop screen. Whatever. He doesn't have to explain himself to her. "I'm gonna take my break now." She looks back up at him and nods.

"You've got half an hour starting now." He goes to the back to get the sandwich he grabbed from Starbucks before his shift. He finds Fitz moving the books from the bins that connect to the outside book drop to the utility cart to be checked in.

"Hey. Looks like those bins are pretty full." Fitz turns to look at him from where he's bent over the side of one the bins. There's an audible _crack_ in the air as his back straightens out, and both he and Ward wince.

"Yeah, I just got back from shelving the nonfiction cart and I found it like this." There's the squealing sound of the chute opening, and before Fitz can remove his hand from where it's dangling in the bin, a couple of hardcover books fall in hitting his hand on the way. For a few moments, the two of them just stand there, their brains not able to process what had just happened.

"So… Are you okay?" Grant doesn't know if he should laugh or not. In the end, Fitz makes the decision for him by falling into a fit of giggles.

"Oh my God," he gasped out, "I definitely was not expecting that. Are you taking your break?" Ward nods.

"By the way," he says while digging through the pile of everyone's belongings for that damn sandwich, "Simmons is here if you want to go talk to her real quick." Fitz perks up noticeably at the mention of her name.

"Yeah, let me just finish checking these in. Was Skye with her by any chance?" Grant ignores the way his heart jumps. It's not as if it had anything to do with _her_ anyways.

"Who? You mean Coulson's daughter? Yeah, she was there. Why?" Fitz smiles knowingly.

"No reason. I was just wondering why you were taking your break now." Ward frowns, not knowing what Fitz was getting at.

"What do you mean?" Fitz collapses in the chair at the terminal and spins himself around a few times before facing Ward.

"Well, you know… It's just that you usually take your break an hour from now." Grant _really_ did not know where Fitz was going with this line of questioning.

"And? What's your point?" Fitz waves a book from the pile in his direction.

"My point is, _Ward_, that you are taking your break early because you're scared of Skye." Naturally Grant's first response is deny, deny, deny. He's a grown man! Why should some slip of a girl scare him?

"What? No! Is there some kind of rule that says I can't take my break earlier than usual or something? Anyways, she's the one who's always here on my shifts. I mean, that can't be a coincidence right? Every day like clockwork, she's here. And I guess she's pretty smart too... Have you seen all those Computer Science books she checks out? I don't even understand half of what's on them. Not to mention she probably has a boyfriend already. Or girlfriend. Who knows. A girl who looks like that can't be single." His voice trails off as he realizes that he's been standing by the coat rack, sandwich in hand, with Fitz staring at him in growing amusement as he babbled on. Before Fitz can open his mouth, Grant makes a hasty retreat. "I'm gonna head to the back now. Yeah, just... This didn't happen." He walks back past May's station to the door by the Circ desk, past the rows of computers, and just as he's rounding the Reference desk, who does he bump into but the one person he's been trying to avoid.

"Oh crap I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you? I mean, probably not. You're pretty firm actually." She flashes him an awkward smile, and his breath catches in his throat. Apparently he's stayed silent for too long, since her smile falls just as quickly as it appeared.

"I-ah-no, I'm fine. Did you need help with those books? They look pretty heavy." Her smile returns with a vengeance and he knows he's said the right thing. For once.

"Nope! I was just gonna put them back. They're just so completely useless. How people managed to study these books before me is anybody's guess." She quickly turns away to place the books back on the shelves, and before he realizes it, his arm is reaching out for her. She gives him a quizzical look as he snatches his hand back.

"Ah, sorry. I was just-I don't know. Sorry." Just as he's about to flee from her presence, she sets the books down on a nearby table and catches him by the arm.

"No, it's okay. I didn't mind. Not sure if you've noticed, but I've kinda been coming around here a lot. And not just to see my Dad, or work on the textbook I've been writing either." He looks down at her softly.

"Yeah, I noticed." They're just standing there in awkward silence, Skye still clutching his arm, and he still has that damn sandwich in his hand. That's when a new voice breaks in.

"Oh for crying out loud. Just ask her out already, will ya kid?" They both jump apart guiltily, and Grant glares at Garrett for interrupting. He's sitting behind the Reference desk with Hand as usual, both of them wearing smug grins on their faces. Grant turns back to Skye to apologize (_Jesus fucking Christ, what is it with this girl and making him do things he would never normally do_) and he finds her staring expectantly at him, hands on her hips, and an inviting smile on her lips.

"Well? He has a point, and you did say that you noticed...?" He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. Her face falls, and he finally manages to force out the words.

"Do you maybe want to go get a drink after my shift is over?" She grins at him, and it's like the sun lighting up her face. Wait no. That's the actual sun from outside. Fucking literal glass ceiling. Why they even installed a glass ceiling was beyond him.

"You do realize I've been waiting for you to ask me out for like, forever? That's a yes by the way if your robot brain couldn't understand that." Quickly sending a glare promising death towards Hand and Garrett, he darts in and kisses Skye gently.

"Trust me, I understood. I finish in 4 hours if you want to get dinner beforehand though." She nods, a grin still tugging at her lips.

"See you in a few hours Mister Roboto." He rolls his eyes at her, knowing that she probably isn't going to stop with the robot themed nicknames. He reaches out and squeezes her hand before heading to the break room. It isn't until he gets there and sees the clock that he realizes over half of his allotted 30 minutes are up. He collapses into one of the chairs, and his head falls onto the table with a thunk. Well, he may not be able to finish his sandwich, but at least he has a date later that night.

* * *

Just fyi, that part with the books slamming into Fitz was based off of personal experience. Except that the first time was my hand, and the next time was my head. No one ever mentioned that working at your local library was dangerous.

Already cross-posted this on AO3 under the same title. Come look me up on tumblr at toraberushimeri! Y'all can fill in the rest of the url because ff is being a butt.


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